FIA to appeal Briatore verdict

The FIA has decided to appeal the decicion by a French court to overturn the lifetime ban imposed upon Flavio Briatore and the 5-year ban on Pat Symonds, for their involvment in the Crash-gate scandal.

Last week, Briatore succesfully got the courts to overturn his lifetime ban, as the judge stated the FIA did not have the authority or power to remove them from the sport.

Following meeting between FIA president Jean Todt and other representatives, they have elected to appeal the court’s verdict.

A statement from the FIA read as follows:

“The President of the FIA has consulted the FIA Senate and the FIA’s lawyers about the decision of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris of 5 January. It was unanimously agreed that an appeal would be prepared.

“In his election campaign last summer, FIA President Jean Todt and his team announced that new measures for constructive change, including a disciplinary procedure, would be introduced. Work on this is well advanced. Once in place, this will address the issues in the Court’s judgement. Nonetheless, an appeal is merited.”

Also, the FIA were quick to point out that, while they are appealing the decicion, the original punishment still stands, meaning that Briatore and Symonds, for the time being, still cannot be involved in FIA-sanctioned sports.

In my last article on this, I mentioned that the FIA may choose to not give superlicences to drivers who use Briatore as their manager. However, this may not be done, pending the outcome of the FIA’s appeal.